News Brief

3/1/2013, Adar 19, 5773

Bennett: The Ball is in the Likud's Hands

Chairman Naftali Bennett of Habayit Hayehudi (Jewish Home-New National Religious Party) defended his party's alliance with the Yesh Atid party, Friday, against reports of Likud-Beyteinu efforts to break up the package deal as it tries to form a government. Writing on his Facebook page, Bennett noted how he was told he had to break up with Yesh Atid to preserve Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, while Yesh Atid was told it had to break up with Habayit Hayehudi in order to remove those communities.

Bennett said the alliance was born of the need to avoid the government's obsession with the proposed Arab state to be born of the Palestinian Authority at the expense of a litany of domestic issues. He summed them up by saying, "The Likud has a rare opportunity to carry out great social reforms that transcend parties, which can change the lives of millions of citizens in Israel from the marginalized strata and the middle class. Responding to words by Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe Ya'alon that the ball was in Habayit Hayehudi's court, Bennett said the ball was in the Likud's hands.